DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1036#0028
20
MEDINET GUROB.
with the name of Tahutmes III is of opaque blue
glass. A spirited rough outline (25) has been
scratched on a piece of pottery before baking. The
inscriptions (24, 28) are cut on slips of wood, from
some inlaying of boxes ; (31) is on a separate piece
of wood; and (32, 33)]were on slips found together,
referring to the eastern and western house of
Ramessu III in the Fayum, an expression that
might refer to Illahun and Gurob as being on the
opposite banks of this branch of the Nile.
Of the scarabs and rings (Pl. XXIII) there is no
need to say much. It is strange that a scarab of
Pepi should turn up at Gurob; it is the only one
there earlier than the founder of the town Tahutmes
III, and this absence of the earlier kings of the
XVIIIth dynasty incidentally shews how soon scarabs
dropped out of use after they were made. No. 21 is
a new variety " beloved of all the gods of the palace."
No. 45 is a curious ring with young Ramessu seated
on the nub, in relief on the bezel. The unnamed
scarabs are arranged, as nearly as can be judged, in
their order of date.
40. The inscriptions from Gurob (PL. XXIV) are
all of the XVIIIth dynasty. They are drawn here
on a uniform size of sign ; while the actual dimensions
of each piece are stated in inches. The large lintel
slab of Tahutmes III is from the temple which he
built; and which, to judge by this, must have been
well decorated. The left hand side of it, bearing
hieroglyphs reading in the more usual direction, was
done by a skilled sculptor, while the other half was
copied by a pupil who shews very inferior ability in
both outline and details. This is now in the Adelaide
museum. ^/The black granite altar is of special
interest. Though roughly cut it seems to have be-
longed to a class of funerary offerings made for
Amenhotep III by his celebrated queen Thii. It
follows the usual formulae to Osiris, for the royal ka
of Amenhotep III, down each side; and then along
the base is a line stating that " The great royal wife
Thii made her monuments of her brother, her beloved,
the good god Ra-ma-neb." The question of the
parentage of Thii is one of the most important genea-
logies in Egyptian history. In every other case that
we can prove, the queen through whom the royal
descent entailed was herself of royal family. But
Thii is stated to have been the daughter of Iuaa and
Tuaa. Here however she is the sister of Amen-
hotep III. Her parents therefore would have been
Tahutmes IV and Arat. And she has the title of in-
heritance, "princess of both lands," on a colossus
at Thebes. Either then Iuaa and Tuaa were the
familiar names of Tahutmes IV and Arat (as every
Egyptian had a great and little name), and Thii was
thus sister to her royal husband, as were most of the
other queens ; or else these titles of sister, and " prin-
cess of both lands " were purely formal. It has been
claimed as being formal in other cases, but that is
very doubtful; unless it can be shewn that a queen
was not of the royal stock, her possession of them is
no proof of the formality of these titles. So strong
does the principle of female inheritance of the throne
seem to be in many crucial cases, to the exclusion of
male inheritance, that the presumption is that Thii
was really the sister of Amenhotep as here stated.
The slab from Gurob (9) with the ka name of Amen- uM^<
hotep IV is a variant on the known forms; it seems
to shew that some large buildings or repairs to the
temple were made in his time. Some building also
went on in this district under Khuenaten; as in a
tomb at Illahun a block of sculpture (10) was found
reused, which represented Khuenaten (tattooed with
the names of Aten) holding his daughter Ankh-sen-
pa-aten ; while an offerer in front worships the disc,
which is figured as an Asiatic rosette with pendant
streamers, and would seem more in place on a Baby-
lonian monument than in Egypt. This block is now
in the University of Pennsylvania. The little tablet
(11) representing a royal scribe Ra-mes-m-pa-amen
adoring Tahutmes III, is probably of the XVIIIth
dynasty, in spite of the Ra-mes name.
41. The cubit (12) is of wood, inscribed all along;
one end has been broken away about 1 ■ 3 inch, at a
knot in the wood. The inscription contains the titles
of Tut-ankh-amen and his queen Ankhsamen. The
dimensions of the cubit are '94 X "63 inch, with
bevelled edge as usual; in the remaining end is a
round hole, ■ 32 across and -36 deep, with flat bottom ;
it seems as if intended to hold a stud to give an
accurate terminal to the cubit. The divisions are
roughly cut, being at (end) o, 2-80, 4-16, 5-75, 8-63,
10-08, 10-97, II-70) I4*7°> and l7'77 inches. The
palms therefore between the cuts (excluding the butt
end) are 2-95, 2-88, 3-07, 3-00, 3-07 inches, which
would indicate a cubit of 20*96 ; or if the butt end lost
were of the same length as that remaining the total
would be 20 • 57 which is nearer the probability. No
accurate value can be deduced from this therefore.
42. The weights found at Gurob are here stated
along with those found last year (numbered 4899 to
4912) so as to give a complete view of the metrology
of the place. The arrangement of the table is similar
MEDINET GUROB.
with the name of Tahutmes III is of opaque blue
glass. A spirited rough outline (25) has been
scratched on a piece of pottery before baking. The
inscriptions (24, 28) are cut on slips of wood, from
some inlaying of boxes ; (31) is on a separate piece
of wood; and (32, 33)]were on slips found together,
referring to the eastern and western house of
Ramessu III in the Fayum, an expression that
might refer to Illahun and Gurob as being on the
opposite banks of this branch of the Nile.
Of the scarabs and rings (Pl. XXIII) there is no
need to say much. It is strange that a scarab of
Pepi should turn up at Gurob; it is the only one
there earlier than the founder of the town Tahutmes
III, and this absence of the earlier kings of the
XVIIIth dynasty incidentally shews how soon scarabs
dropped out of use after they were made. No. 21 is
a new variety " beloved of all the gods of the palace."
No. 45 is a curious ring with young Ramessu seated
on the nub, in relief on the bezel. The unnamed
scarabs are arranged, as nearly as can be judged, in
their order of date.
40. The inscriptions from Gurob (PL. XXIV) are
all of the XVIIIth dynasty. They are drawn here
on a uniform size of sign ; while the actual dimensions
of each piece are stated in inches. The large lintel
slab of Tahutmes III is from the temple which he
built; and which, to judge by this, must have been
well decorated. The left hand side of it, bearing
hieroglyphs reading in the more usual direction, was
done by a skilled sculptor, while the other half was
copied by a pupil who shews very inferior ability in
both outline and details. This is now in the Adelaide
museum. ^/The black granite altar is of special
interest. Though roughly cut it seems to have be-
longed to a class of funerary offerings made for
Amenhotep III by his celebrated queen Thii. It
follows the usual formulae to Osiris, for the royal ka
of Amenhotep III, down each side; and then along
the base is a line stating that " The great royal wife
Thii made her monuments of her brother, her beloved,
the good god Ra-ma-neb." The question of the
parentage of Thii is one of the most important genea-
logies in Egyptian history. In every other case that
we can prove, the queen through whom the royal
descent entailed was herself of royal family. But
Thii is stated to have been the daughter of Iuaa and
Tuaa. Here however she is the sister of Amen-
hotep III. Her parents therefore would have been
Tahutmes IV and Arat. And she has the title of in-
heritance, "princess of both lands," on a colossus
at Thebes. Either then Iuaa and Tuaa were the
familiar names of Tahutmes IV and Arat (as every
Egyptian had a great and little name), and Thii was
thus sister to her royal husband, as were most of the
other queens ; or else these titles of sister, and " prin-
cess of both lands " were purely formal. It has been
claimed as being formal in other cases, but that is
very doubtful; unless it can be shewn that a queen
was not of the royal stock, her possession of them is
no proof of the formality of these titles. So strong
does the principle of female inheritance of the throne
seem to be in many crucial cases, to the exclusion of
male inheritance, that the presumption is that Thii
was really the sister of Amenhotep as here stated.
The slab from Gurob (9) with the ka name of Amen- uM^<
hotep IV is a variant on the known forms; it seems
to shew that some large buildings or repairs to the
temple were made in his time. Some building also
went on in this district under Khuenaten; as in a
tomb at Illahun a block of sculpture (10) was found
reused, which represented Khuenaten (tattooed with
the names of Aten) holding his daughter Ankh-sen-
pa-aten ; while an offerer in front worships the disc,
which is figured as an Asiatic rosette with pendant
streamers, and would seem more in place on a Baby-
lonian monument than in Egypt. This block is now
in the University of Pennsylvania. The little tablet
(11) representing a royal scribe Ra-mes-m-pa-amen
adoring Tahutmes III, is probably of the XVIIIth
dynasty, in spite of the Ra-mes name.
41. The cubit (12) is of wood, inscribed all along;
one end has been broken away about 1 ■ 3 inch, at a
knot in the wood. The inscription contains the titles
of Tut-ankh-amen and his queen Ankhsamen. The
dimensions of the cubit are '94 X "63 inch, with
bevelled edge as usual; in the remaining end is a
round hole, ■ 32 across and -36 deep, with flat bottom ;
it seems as if intended to hold a stud to give an
accurate terminal to the cubit. The divisions are
roughly cut, being at (end) o, 2-80, 4-16, 5-75, 8-63,
10-08, 10-97, II-70) I4*7°> and l7'77 inches. The
palms therefore between the cuts (excluding the butt
end) are 2-95, 2-88, 3-07, 3-00, 3-07 inches, which
would indicate a cubit of 20*96 ; or if the butt end lost
were of the same length as that remaining the total
would be 20 • 57 which is nearer the probability. No
accurate value can be deduced from this therefore.
42. The weights found at Gurob are here stated
along with those found last year (numbered 4899 to
4912) so as to give a complete view of the metrology
of the place. The arrangement of the table is similar